MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

After the deal was made, Zero instructed Alex to strip naked, leaving only his underwear on, and climb into the crystal pod at the center of the room.

Alex did as he was told while attempting to calm his mind from all the excitement that tingled within him from the moment he had stepped out of his house a few hours ago.

Alex was eager to see the enhancements awaiting him after the Rank promotion, and knowing he would awaken his elemental physique only added to his excitement.

Alx stood inside the pod, his eyes set on Zero, waiting for him to start the process, but without the man lifting a finger, holes started to form as the glass shifted aside, giving way to the crystalline tubes that moved forward like having a life of their own.

The crystalline tubes started releasing transparent viscous liquid with a blue sheen to it into the pod, and the moment the liquid made contact with Alex, it seeped into his skin and made him feel a rush of vitality.

It was an experience similar to Life Serum treatment but much stronger, as at the moment, he felt all his stress melt away, and while he was enjoying the feeling of being rejuvenated, the small hair-thin tubes numbering in hundreds started to sink into his body.

At first, Alex felt nothing, probably because of a momentary feeling of euphoria from the healing liquid, but a mere moments later, he started to feel stings all over his body from his feet and neck to even the back of his spine, followed by an excruciating pain, like thousands of needles were digging into his bones.

Alex clenched his teeth to stop himself from screaming as he opened his eyes and saw that the hundreds of hair-thin tubes were making a porcupine out of him, as with the moment, more and more tubes were piercing into his body.

Alex didn't suffer for long as the thirty seconds the healing liquid took to reach his waist was also the time it took before the darkness covered his eyes as his mind went into a deep slumber.

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(103 Hours Later)

The transparent crystalline pod was now pitch dark, holding a cocoon of darkness inside of it that pulsed with mana, and standing meters away from it was Zero, his eyes set on multiple transparent screens showing thousands of lines of data moving on them.

"He awakened two shards of his physique, which should help him build his strength to a higher scale on each Rank and also advance through Ranks quicker,"

"The best thing is I made quite a profit." Zero stated with a chuckle as his eyes scanned the pod.

It took moments before the cocoon of darkness started to visibly shrink in size, and in a matter of minutes, it was completely absorbed into Alex's body, leaving him lying unconscious in the glass pod.

Alex's physique, previously muscular and refined, now appeared sculpted from marble, exhibiting increased size, each muscle sharply defined beneath his flawless skin while his hair had grown flowing down to his back.

Zero raised his hand, and the front of the glass pod shifted aside, with Alex's unconscious body floating into the air before moving toward him. 

A large section of the floor before him shifted aside, creating a hole leading underground. Zero floated into the air, with Alex's body levitating beside him, and they both started descending the passage. 

Moments later, they appeared inside a massive open chamber that appeared empty, and before they landed, a section of the floor shifted aside, making a bed appear in its place.

Zero laid Alex on the bed while he settled on the chair that appeared in a akin fashion, his eyes returning to the various floating screens.

After more than an hour, Alex regained his conciseness, his memories a complete blur, but as he slowly came to his senses, his heart rate started to increase as he swiftly opened his galactic system and then his profile.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Name: Alex Crawford

Class: BattleMage

Race: Human

Physique: Dark Ancient Physique.

Rank: First Rank

STATS

STR: 606. AGI: 536.

VIT: 548. STA: 544.

INT: 656.

HP: 5480/5480

MP: 6560/6560

Condition: Healthy

Skills: [Mana Sense][Darkness Blast][Darkness Chians][Darkness Spear][Darkness Slash][Four Fold Thrust]

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

'This is good, very good,' Alex thought, with a silly smile on his face as he looked at his stats, which had gone up by at least 600%.

Before the Rank promotion, Alex's mana stat, which was the highest, was at 128 points, while his lowest stat agility was at 68 points, and now, after a two hundred points boost from his physique and the Rank promotion, they were reaching newer heights.

Alex had progressed through the Rank using conventional means, which was the reason why he didn't outright gain any skills, and it was normal because, the skills one acquired in the Ancient World were due to the system.

However, he did gain knowledge of a few class-specific specialties, namely weapon proficiency and mana adaptation, allowing him to wield weapons and mold mana according to his wishes.

The first conceived Alex had after seeing his stats was testing his strength because even though he knew what it sensed like to have such, it was in a magical world where common sense was out of the window.

"Crackkk"

So without hesitation, he closed the status window, leaving other details for the latter, but as he pushed against the bed to shift to the side, he heard a crack before his hand went through the bed while also ripping through the soft mattress.

"You need some practice to get comfortable with your new strength, and luckily for you, this room has the best technology to help you with such tasks,"

"So voice out what type of activity you want, and it will be given to you," Zero said, momentarily shifting his attention toward Alex.

"Strength Testing Device,"

Alex left the bed and voiced what he needed, and instantly, the floor shifted, and a silver pillar rose before him with a red cushioned pad in the front and a small transparent screen floating above it.

Alex took a deliberate step backward to get in position, winding his arm with a focused intensity as the muscles in his arm slowly coiled and the tension spread through his back.

In a flash, his fist tore through the air, meeting the red cushion with a resounding impact, followed by an echoing thud that reverberated in the chamber.

Alex shook his fist, feeling a bit of pain in his wrist, but his eyes were set on the transparent screen with a number growing by the moment, surpassing anything humanly possible.

The number stopped increasing after reaching 34180 Newtons, which created Alex shift his eyes to his fist that opened and closed, clenching to see if he sensed much different.

The good and bad thing was, that he sensed normal, but he knew his strength was far from ordinary because an average human of his size and muscle mass, with all his strength, would barely reach 700 to 950 newtons of force, enough to fracture and break bones.

Alex's strength was more than 3500% higher, and it was not even his best. If he wanted or was careless, he could crush someone he touched, severely injuring them, or outright end up killing them, and thinking about it sent chills down his spine.

Alex was aware that players or inhabitants of the Ancient World instinctively learned to wield their increased strength in a matter of hours.

But to confirm if it was same on Earth, he swiftly looked toward Zero for him to clarify if there was something not known to him.

"It would take a few hours for you to naturally learn to wield your strength," Zero said, putting Alex's mind at ease.

Alex decided to expend the next few hours in the chamber and test his strength in various metrics.

In the following six hours, Alex spent time on various machines, and to say he was satisfied with his newfound strength was an understatement.

He was now a walking anomaly, capable of running faster than any car, tearing through the strongest creatures on Earth, and even ripping apart steel like paper.

Alex asked Zero why he didn't sell skills because he found it very much possible to transfer the knowledge directly to the target using the galactic system, like he did with the class and the knowledge he acquired from it.

The answer Zero gave was that doing so would bring events which he wouldn't be able to cover and, that would let the whole world know that among them were some anomalies, and he obviously didn't want that to happen, at least not for some time.

Before Alex took his leave, Zero warned him that if he created a sensation, he would be in the limelight, attracting the attention of big powers. Even if he misused his abilities, like killing other individuals without anyone finding out, there would still be consequences.